Doing what matters 6 – our problem with activism

What lessons from tango can be applied to learning and teaching activism?

First, let’s see what one needs to learn tango really well, or any activity for that matter:

- a source of knowledge: A teacher who has substantial experience in the activity, distilled into a comprehensive, systematic method which also includes a way of transferring it. Alternatively, there are books and courses, though these should be viewed as supplements – I can’t imagine they can ever really give what a good, live teacher can.

- Regular, deliberate practice: You can’t truly progress in anything if you don’t put in the hours, and even when you do, they way you practice is as important as how often you do it.

- A learning environment: In tango, this would be a class in which one can practice regularly in a good atmosphere.

- A “doing” environment: You need to be able to do your activity in its natural environment – dance tango in a milonga, play basketball with others etc.

- Constant feedback: Whether in the exercises or when doing the activity itself, you need to be able to observe and reflect on (and have your teacher point out) how good you are, how well you’re applying what you’ve been learning, what you need to work on more etc.

- A tribe: When you have other people who share your passion for your activity, they can be a wonderful source of inspiration and motivation, as you can share and talk about your experiences, struggles and observations.

Of course, having all of these constitutes ideal circumstances, and oftentimes one or two things are missing. But when it comes to activism, the situation is a mess:

The root of all problems stems from how activism itself is perceived: not as the sort of activity that tango, sports or art are, but as broad, undefined spectrum of activities, skills, tasks, beliefs, attitudes, motivations and so on, with only a vague idea of how they are connected. Furthermore, a lot of what we do in activism is dependant on what we see as our character (how we communicate with others, organize our time etc.) and thus not something that many are eager to work on – ‘’I’m hot-headed and that’s just the way I am’’ (ironically, in martial arts, sports and so on one takes it almost for granted that they will include working on your character – dedication, teamwork etc.).

Even when there’s a willing to change yourself and practice activism, and even when you find one of the few really good comprehensive books (and they are nowhere near enough – you must continuously read a really broad variety of them), you still usually have to do it on your own, without a teacher. Few are lucky to have an experienced activist regularly share his or her experience with them in a systematic, effective way. Active learning mostly happens in seminars, which cover one particular topic and happen rarely and irregularly.

All of this extends to other people as well, so it’s very much up to chance how much you’ll get along with your tribe. They’re very likely going through the same chaotic process as you are, so friction is almost inevitable and learning to deal with it is also very much up to circumstances, personalities etc.

So, it’s not easy becoming a good activist and many people burn out after the disappointment and frustration of not achieving results they expected based on how much effort they put in (and considering that activism is connected to their beliefs about the world and about themselves, they usually expect a lot).

It seems like a really bleak picture. So, having all this in mind, can activism really be learnt and taught like tango?

to be continued